Bitcoin Hits $7.6K as SegWit 2x Nears

Continuing its rising trend, Bitcoin hit a new high of $7,600 during the weekend as all eyes from the Bitcoin community were looking towards next week, when Bitcoin’s blockchain upgrade will become a reality. For now, market signals are showing that this big rally will not be slowing down any time soon, although there can’t be much certainty at this point.

In other news, Leo Melamed, CEO of CME Group – the largest global derivates exchange – followed up on the Group’s announcement from last week about launching a BTC futures market in an interview with Reuters, where he predicted that Bitcoin is likely to grow into a new asset class, just like stocks and gold.

Namely, with the launch of a BTC futures market and steady interest from investors, he reportedly hopes CME to tame the cryptocurrency and “make Bitcoin not wild, nor wilder”, which in turn will help Bitcoin take its next crucial step in history. By taming Bitcoin into a “regular type instrument of trade with rules”, the cryptocurrency can go beyond being just a digital currency and officially become a new blockchain-based asset class.

Price Going Strong; Buyers Still Hold Market

Bitcoin’s price has continued to grow during last week, at first steadily climbing towards $7,000 but later going through several swings that were most likely caused by profit-making. The highest price point was reached on Sunday afternoon, when the price touched $7,609.90, while the lowest point of $7,019.38 was hit the following day, on Monday evening.

Driving the price up were some massive volume increases, which during the peak lead to a record trading volume number of $4.6 billion. Currently, the volume is at $2.53 billion and climbing, while the market cap is at $123 billion.

Our technical analysis shows that that the market is pro-buy, with all 12 moving averages sending a buying signal and only 3 out of 12 oscillators being pro-sell. The SMA 100 has moved further away from the SMA 200, showing that the path of less resistance is upwards.

From the current signals and high volume, the price seems headed for further growth as more buyers will be looking to get Bitcoin before the split to earn more new coins. However, keep your eyes out for any market changes, especially during the weekend.

Uncertainty Over SegWit 2x Upgrade

Bitcoin’s price rally is losing its spotlight this week as the Bitcoin community is gearing up for next week’s SegWit2x blockchain split. As we’ve reported before, the new hard fork will result into two competing versions of Bitcoin, which in turn creates several complications, most importantly which currency will earn the right to be called the “real” Bitcoin and use the name and the BTC stock symbol.

As the calendar is nearing the (approximate) November 16th execution date, the Bitcoin community is taking sides by throwing support for the update or opposing it. The B2X mining consortium is already getting support from some exchanges, BTC vaults producers, and wallet providers, however, this support might change should the “other” cryptocurrency prove to be the more successful choice.

At this time, there is no definite stance on the new currency by many Bitcoin’s key exchanges. Some have chosen to label the offshoot cryptocurrency as B2X while others are still not choosing any sides. Thus, the overall conclusion is that there is no certainty as to which coin will become more dominant, so most users will just have to wait and see how things go. But on a positive note, you will earn some new coins after the split.